The impact of primary tumor volume on local control for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with radiotherapy

Abstract

Background A study was needed to determine the effect of primary tumor volume on local control of oropharyngeal carcinoma treated with radiation therapy, with or without induction chemotherapy. Methods Between July 1983 and April 1995, 114 patients with T2–T4 squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx were treated for cure with radiation therapy, with or without induction chemotherapy, and had a pretreatment CT scan available for retrospective review. All scans were reviewed by a single radiologist (A. A. M.) to determine the tumor volume of the primary lesion. Volume was measured with a computer digitizer for each CT slice showing the primary lesion. Results A large variation in tumor volume within a given T stage was found. Multivariate analysis demonstrated T stage to be the most significant factor affecting local control. Tumor volume marginally influenced local control (p = .10). Conclusions Primary tumor volume varies significantly within a given T stage and has a marginal impact on the likelihood of local control after radiotherapy. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Head Neck 22: 1–5, 2000.

Volumetric staging (VS) is superior to TNM and AJCC staging in predicting outcome of head and neck cancer treated with IMRT

“…In three analyses on oropharyngeal tumors [2,22,23], there was no significant correlation. In contrast, volumetric staging in our oropharyngeal subgroup showed the same strong capacity for stratifying prognostic subgroups as in the pooled cohort.…”

Pretreatment probability model for predicting outcome after intraarterial chemoradiation for advanced head and neck carcinoma

“…13 These differences were also found when we compared hypopharyngeal and oropharyngeal carcinomas. Nathu et al 26 presented a 5-year LC rate of 86% in a group of 35 patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma with a mean tumor volume of 14.8 cm 3 , whereas Hermans et al 27 presented a 5-year LC rate of 75% in a group of 119 patients with laryngeal carcinoma with a mean tumor volume of 2.3 cm 3 . Some authors used cutoff volumes to separate patients into favorable and unfavorable groups.…”

CT-based analysis of malignant tumor volume and localization: a preliminary study

“…According to the related literature, the importance of correctly estimating the size of a tumor is evident because it will determine the treatment procedures according to the development of the neoplasm 4,6,9,12,16,[18][19][20]22,23 . According to Doweck et al 12 (2002), only 14.1% of the patients with tumors larger than 19.6 cc survive, while 41.5% survive when the tumors are smaller than 19.6 cc 12 .…”

“…Recent reports have shown that tumor volume is a reliable piece of information for treatment planning 19 , and that it can also predict the outcome of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer 4,9,12,16,20,22 . Multiplanar reconstructed (MPR) images from computed tomography (CT) play an important role in both pre-and postoperative evaluation of oral and maxillofacial abnormalities 9,13,15 .…”

“…In most studies, the calculation has been done by adding the areas obtained in each tomographic slice and then multiplying them by the thickness of the cut 4,5,12,16,19,20,22,23 . In spite of the high correlation level between the size of the tumor obtained through the use of this methodology and the histopathologic examination, this technique has some drawbacks, especially in invasive lesions (and in small ones), situations in which it is extremely difficult to delineate the lesion 4 .…”